A Tale from the Land of the Sufis Page 1 of 4

This Too Shall Pass

The following is a story by Farid ud-din Attar, a Persian mystical poet and
Sufi master, who lived in the twelfth century, CE. It is taken from the book
Tales from the Land of the Sufis, by Mojdeh Bayat and Ali Jamnia,
transcribed by Josh Farthing.

A dervish who had traveled long and hard through the desert finally came to
civilization after a long journey. The village was called Sandy Hills, and it
was dry and hot. Except for the hay feed and some shrubs, not much greenery
was to be found. Cattle were the main means of livelihood for the people of
Sandy Hills, had the condition of the soil been different, they might have been
able to engage in agriculture as well. The dervish politely asked a passerby if
there was someplace where he could find food and lodging for the night.
"Well," said the man, scratching his head, "we don't have such a place in our
village, but I am sure Shakir would be happy to provide for you tonight."
Then the man gave directions to the ranch owned by Shakir, whose name
means "one who thanks the Lord constantly."

On his way to the ranch, the dervish stopped by a small group of old men who
were smoking pipes, to reconfirm his directions. From them, he found out that
Shakir was the richest man in the area. One of the men said Shakir owned
more than a thousand cattle - "And this is more than the wealth of Haddad,
who lives in the neighboring village."

A short while later, the dervish was standing in front of Shakir's home,
admiring it. As it turned out, Shakir was a very hospitable and kind person. He
insisted that the dervish stay a couple of days in his house. Shakir's wife and
daughters were just as kind and considerate as he was and provided the
dervish with the best. At the end of his stay, they even supplied him with
plenty of food and water for his journey.

On his way back into the desert, the dervish could not help puzzling over
Shakir's last words at the time of farewell. The dervish had said, "Thank God
that you are well off."

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"But, dervish," Shakir had replied, "don't be fooled by appearances, for this
too shall pass."

During his years on the Sufi path, the dervish had come to understand that
anything he heard or saw during his journey offered a lesson to be learned and
thus was worthy of contemplation. In fact, that was the reason he had
undertaken the journey in the first place - to learn more. The words of shakir
occupied his thoughts and he was not sure if he fully understood their import.

As he sat under the shade of a single tree to pray and meditate, he recalled
from his Sufi training that if he kept silent and did not rush to any
conclusions, he would eventually find the answer. For he had been taught to
be silent and not ask questions; when it was time for him to be enlightened, he
would be. Therefore, he shut the door on his thoughts and drowned his soul in
a deep meditative state.

And so he passed five more years of traveling to different lands, meeting new
people, and learning from his experiences along the way. Every adventure
offered a new lesson to be learned. Meanwhile, as Sufi custom required, he
remained quiet, concentrating on the instructions of his heart.

One day, the dervish found himself returning to Sandy Hills, the same village
at which he had stopped a few years before. He remembered his friend Shakir
and asked after him. "He lives in the neighboring village, ten miles from here.
He now works for Haddad," a villager answered. The surprised dervish
remembered that Haddad was another wealthy man in the region. Happy at the
prospect of seeing Shakir again, he rushed toward the neighboring village.

At Haddad's marvelous home, the dervish was welcomed by Shakir, who

looked much older now and was dressed in rags. "What happened to you?" the
dervish wanted to know. Shakir replied that a flood three years previously had
left him with no cattle, and no house. So he and his family had become
servants of Haddad, who had survived the flood and now enjoyed the status of
wealthiest man in that area. This turn of fortune, however, had not changed
the kind and friendly manner of Shakir and his family. They graciously took
care of the dervish in their cottage for a couple of days, and gave him food
and water before he left.
As he was leaving, the dervish said, "I am so sorry for what has happened to

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you and your family. I know that God has a reason for what He does."

"Oh, but remember, this too shall pass."

Shakir's voice kept echoing in the dervish's ears. The man's smiling face and
calm spirit never left his mind. "What in the world does he mean by that
statement this time?" The dervish now knew that Shakir's final words on his
previous visit had anticipated the changes that had occurred. But this time, he
wondered what could justify such an optimistic remark. So, again, he let it
pass, preferring to wait for the answer.

Months and years passed, and the dervish, who was getting on in years, kept
traveling without any thought of retiring. Strangely enough, the pattern of his
journeys always brought him back to the village where Shakir lived. This
time, it took seven years before he got back to Sandy Hills, and by this time
Shakir had become rich again. He now lived in the main building of Haddad's
compound instead of the small cottage. "Haddad died a couple of years ago,"
Shakir explained, "and since he had no heir, he decided to leave me his wealth
as a reward for my loyal services."

As the visit drew to a close, the dervish prepared for his greatest journey: he
would cross Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage to Mecca on foot, a long-
standing tradition among his colleagues. His farewell with his old friend was
no different from the others. Shakir repeated his favorite saying, "This too
shall pass."

After the pilgrimage, the dervish traveled to India. Upon returning to his
motherland, Persia, he decided to visit Shakir one more time to find out what
had become of him. So once again he set out for the village of Sandy Hills.
But instead of finding his friend Shakir there, he was shown a modest grave
with the inscription "This too shall pass." He was more surprised at this than
he had been on any of the occasions when Shakir himself had spoken those
words. "Riches come and riches go," thought the dervish to himself, "but how
can a tomb change?"

From that time on, the dervish made it a point to visit the tomb of his friend
every year, when he would spend a few hours meditating at Shakir's abode.
However, on one of his visits, he found the cemetery and grave gone, washed
away by a flood. Now the old dervish had lost the only traces left of a man

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who had marked the experiences of his life so exceptionally. The dervish
stayed at the ruins of the cemetery for hours, staring at the ground. Finally, he
lifted his head to the sky and then, as if discovering a greater meaning, nodded
his head as a sign of confirmation and said, "This too shall pass."

When the dervish had finally become too old to travel, he decided to settle
down and live the rest of his life in peace and quiet. Years passed by, and the
old man spent his time helping those who came to him for advice and sharing
his experiences with the young. People came from all over to have the benefit
of his wisdom. Eventually his fame spread to the king's great advisor, who
happened to be looking for someone with great wisdom.

The fact was, the king desired a ring to be made for him. The ring was to be a
special one: it was to carry an inscription such that if the king was sad, he
could look at the ring and it would make him happy, and if he was happy, he
could look at the ring and it would make him sad.

The best jewelers were hired, and many men and women came forward with
suggestions for the ring, but the king liked none of them. So the advisor wrote
to the dervish explaining the situation, asking for help, and inviting him to the
palace. Without leaving home, the dervish sent back his reply.

A few days later, an emerald ring was made and presented to the king. The
king, who had been depressed for days, reluctantly put the ring on his finger
and glanced at it with a disappointed sigh. Then he started to smile, and a few
moments later, he was laughing loudly. On the ring were inscribed the words,
"This too shall pass."

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